“Oxygen is abundant in the atmosphere,” says Schmid. Reliance on oxygen ions to store energy gives the new chemistry a unique advantage over lithium, though. Tests done on full cells of the oxygen-ion batteries showed volumetric energy densities of up to 140 milliwatt-hours per cubic centimeter, which corresponds to about 30 percent of the volumetric energy density of today’s lithium-ion batteries. When the oxygen ions flow back, the device generates an electric current. When a voltage is applied, the oxygen ions migrate to the oxygen-absorbing electrode, storing energy. One of them more easily takes up oxygen ions while the other can be filled with oxygen but wants to release that oxygen. The ceramic electrodes can both store or release oxygen ions. “How it works is actually very similar to a lithium-ion battery except with oxygen,” Schmid says. They chose another ceramic material, yttria-stabilized zirconia, as the solid electrolyte. These oxides are ceramics that are used typically in solid oxide fuel cells. Schmid and his colleagues made a battery, a small lab-scale prototype at this point, using thin films of two different oxides as electrodes. Meanwhile, other battery technologies such as sodium sulfur and molten salt, just like lithium-ion batteries, use volatile liquid electrolytes that can pose a safety risk in case the device fails. Flow batteries, which store energy in large tanks of low-cost chemicals, show promise for grid storage, but the materials used in them, such as vanadium, are expensive. Lithium-ion batteries can be problematic for grid storage given their high cost and reliance on materials with limited geographical reserves, such as cobalt and lithium-as well as their potential to catch fire. Schmid and his colleagues reported on the new battery in the journal Advanced Energy Materials. This higher operating temperature and lower energy density make it most suitable for stationary uses like renewable energy storage for the grid or backup power, says Alexander Schmid, a researcher at the Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien). The batteries work at a temperature range of 200 to 400 ☌. “How it works is actually very similar to a lithium-ion battery except with oxygen.” -Alexander Schmid, TU Wien It also uses abundant materials, and its use of a solid electrolyte means it is nonflammable. The team has made a new oxygen-ion battery that can store about a third of the energy by weight compared to lithium ion but could have a much longer life-spans. Now researchers in Austria have added an unusual contender to the mix: oxygen. Sodium, magnesium, and potassium have all been vying for lithium’s place in rechargeable batteries of the future.
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